


Stranger Danger

by GachMoBrea



Series: The Unexpected Series [6]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Child Endangerment - Bad Guy, Danger, Double Rescue, Fake Science, Gen, Goes with the Series, Hostage Exchange, Kidnapping, OOC, Out of Character, Picnics, Rescue, Thoughts of Violence, Undescribed Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 03:56:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6549577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GachMoBrea/pseuds/GachMoBrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life goes on with Team Flash as Barry and Len practice fighting together.<br/>But there's a new menace hiding in the shadows and it's ready to disturb their peace.</p><p>Terrible Summary, but the Tags are a pretty big Spoiler Alert.<br/>There isn't too much "Graphic Violence" but there is violence and I like to be better safe, than sorry.<br/>(There is a small amount of fluff in Chapter 1. The bad parts come in Chapter 2.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am not good at science. I am not a scientist and I am DEFINITELY not a genius. So I "Googled" things to sound 'sciency' but it's mostly made up blah. (Pretend with me.)

"The Flash and Captain Cold are making headlines again," Cisco compliments his friend when they meet at STAR Labs. He pulls up a digital copy of the paper on one of the screens in the main room, "Took down some jewel thieves last night, huh? Caught their hands 'frozen' in the proverbial cookie jar?"  
The scientist was having far too much fun paraphrasing the article. A few of the reporters were attempting to place lightning and cold jokes into their articles and it was constantly under scrutiny by Team Flash.  
"Morning Barry, morning Cisco," Caitlin greets, joining them in the room, "How was the circus, Barry?"  
"It was amazing," Barry beams, remembering the event like it just happened, "There was a lion tamer and Worthy looked like he wanted to take the giant cat down."  
"Wow, Kid Cold's got guts," Cisco shakes his head astonished, "I was afraid of the dark till I was like seven."  
"You're still afraid of the dark," Caitlin teases.  
"And what? You're Little Miss Fearless?" Cisco glares, but there's no real anger behind it.  
"What sort of training should we do today?" Barry asks, not wanting the conversation to go downhill.  
"Today is just a check up," Caitlin answers, "I want to make sure there's no degradation from the speed force or abnormalities-the usual stuff."  
"Great! Then, maybe Len and I can practice some fight moves together."  
Cisco snaps his fingers, "Electric Charged Ice Pellets!"  
"Electro-what?"  
"If Barry could transfer some of his electricity into ice pellets from the Cold Gun, they could Taser and freeze the bad guys simultaneously!" Cisco is typing at the computer, running formulas and simulations to see if his idea will work.  
Barry and Caitlin look at each other and shrug.

\---

"Could you, maybe, NOT shoot me half the time?" Barry rubs at the new freeze mark on his left arm, courtesy of his partner.  
"If you keep running into the line of fire, I'm going to keep hitting you," Len drawls, no sign of remorse on his calm face, "You're fast, you should see the blast coming. You have in the past. Why are you running into it all the sudden?"  
"In the past you were my enemy," Barry explains, his voice tight, "Now that we're partners I trust you not to hit me."  
"I'm not hitting you," Snart counters, "You're running into my line of fire."  
"A-a-and I think that's enough training for one day," Caitlin steps in between the two men, her palms pointed toward their chests in case they try to run at each other.

The training had started off amiably. They were making progress and trying out a few moves that Cisco thought would look "totally rad." But then Barry kept getting grazed by the Cold Gun. With every hit his frustration grew until he exploded at the other man.  
"Listen, I didn't ask to be on this team," Len holsters his gun, "You wanted me to be here and so you've got to learn to adapt."  
"Adapt to being shot with friendly fire instead of enemy fire?" Barry knows he's pushing the issue instead of addressing the reason behind it. He's just hurt from the blasts, tired from the healing of the wounds, and hungry from the healing.  
Len frowns, pulling his goggles off so they rest around his neck, "If you want me off the team Flash, all you gotta do is say so."  
Barry's anger deflates. Losing Len is the last thing he wants.  
"No, sorry, I'm just tired, I guess," Barry removes his cowl, it's not as comfortable as it looks.  
"Why don't we call it a day and try again tomorrow?" Caitlin suggests, looking at the two men in turn to gauge their reaction, "New day, new eyes, new results?"  
"I'll be here," Len nods, turning to leave, "I'll even try to not hit, Scarlett."  
"And I'll try to look before I run," Barry adds, and that's how that fight ends. Both men indirectly admitting they were part of the problem.  
Just another day in Central City.

 

Practice makes perfect, or as close as they can get. Barry keeps an eye out for the direction of the beam and Len calls out when he's shooting in Barry's direction. They find it easier to work in short one-word phrases to alert the other of what their planning without tipping off the enemy.  
The dummies they practice on definitely don't see it coming.

 

Oddly enough, they work better together when they're out on the field. Perhaps the adrenaline of the situation focuses them into the perfect crime fighting pair.  
There's a biker gang riding through town, smashing at whatever they can while they remain on their machines. It's just senseless vandalism with far too much alcohol in the mix.  
The Flash builds a wall of City garbage cans that Captain Cold freezes to make a wall to stop the biker's road trip. They screech to a halt, shouting at the blockade as if it will get out of their way on it's own. Then The Flash is going to each stopped bike, turning off ignitions and colleting keys until he has them all in his hands. Captain Cold shoots their weapons out of their hands, mainly bats and pipes, and the two of them enjoy watching the police catch the bikers as they try to make a run for it.

 

The hardest part about their partnership is getting to and from crime scenes. Ordinarily, Barry would speed from one place to another. Now the team has to figure in Len's mode of transportation when forming plans. Len has a bike that Cisco's tricked out as best he can, but there are times when Barry has to carry the other man so they can get there in time.  
Getting back is always harder. If Barry's injured he doesn't have the strength to carry Len and the other man always refuses anyway. So far Len's been able to sneak away before the police can bother him.  
"I've been doing this a lot longer than you," he tells Barry with his usual drawl and smirk. Barry can't help but worry about the day that doesn't matter.

\---

After successfully stopping their tenth robbery, the team, including Lisa and Wentworth, decide to have a picnic to celebrate. Len grumbles about them being too easily pleased but doesn't argue.  
Lisa carries Wentworth while Cisco and Barry carry the food and Len takes up the rear with the large blanket. Caitlin is in front searching for "the perfect place."  
"Oh! Here!" she points to the grass like she's found something secret there, "This has the adequate amount of sunshine and taking in the sun's decent for the course of the day and the placement of trees, we should get some shade just as we've finished eating dessert."  
"I don't care as long as I get to put this thing down," Len drawls, unceremoniously dropping the blanket. Caitlin quickly grabs a corner and starts to spread it. Len helps her without being asked.  
"Lenny!" Lisa shouts as they finish smoothing the blanket.  
Len turns to his sister and sees Wentworth on his feet, arms outstretched to him as his wobbly legs try to keep him upright. Len moves, so he's closer to his son, arms mirroring Wentworth's as the little boy takes a wiggly first step. Lisa is right behind him, hands mere inches from his back in case he falls.  
Wentworth's face is focused as his other foot moves to take the next step. He wobbles a bit more, tilting ever so slightly to the right before gaining his balance again.  
Len moves a little closer, his arms extending as far as they'll go. He doesn't want to close the gap, just make it a little smaller. His son looks up to him and he sees his tongue peeking out a little as the little boy concentrates on his footing.  
Two more steps. That's all it will take for Wentworth to reach Len. Everyone else in the small group is watching them with bated breath, not making a sound in case it'll throw off the little guy.  
One wobbly step, Wentworth waves his arms to compensate the uneven feeling.  
Two steps, he falls right into Len's arms. Everyone cheers.  
"Oh, man, Kid Cold's first steps!" Cisco beams at his girlfriend who's smiling at her brother and nephew, "Please tell me someone got that on film."  
"I got it!" Caitlin and Barry chirp at the same time. They look at each other and laugh.  
Len scoops his son up and stands, turning the boy's face towards his admirers.  
"Good job, big boy!" Lisa coos, shaking Worthy's hand.  
"In a few days he'll be running circles around the city," Caitlin smiles.  
"Oh, please, no," Len sighs, "I already fear chasing him in circles around the house."  
Everyone bursts into laughter at Len's serious tone, even Wentworth.

"Whoever thought picnics on the grass was a good idea never had ants," Cisco complains, swatting at another tiny intruder, "Seriously, Caitlin, did you put us on an ant hill?"  
"I didn't create nature, Cisco," Caitlin reminds the genius again, "They're just following their insect instincts."  
"I wonder if Ant Man tells his buddies to scram whenever he wants to eat on the ground," Cisco mumbles to himself, swatting at a line of intruders.  
The ants were starting to become a problem. Thankfully, they had eaten most of the food. The sandwiches and fruit were long gone and they were just finishing off the cupcakes. Wentworth's face was yellow from the frosting. A single sprinkle was hanging off the edge of his nose.  
"How does that not bother him?" Barry wonders aloud. Len shakes his head.  
"He's too excited about eating sugar to care," Len drawls, wiping the boy's face clean.  
"Oh, make sure you don't give him too much or too often," Caitlin pipes up, her hands full of garbage she was collecting, "It can cause-"  
"A cold, cough, allergies, croup, acid reflux, weakened immunity and a poor diet," Len interrupts, finishing for her. He answers her questioning glance with, "I got the run down from Barry."  
"The walking baby book strikes again," Cisco grins, standing up after failing to dissuade the tiny nuisances.  
They get up and Caitlin throws out their trash as Cisco and Barry shake out the blanket. Len still has Wentworth. Lisa is being surprisingly less clingy than she usually is and Barry makes a mental note to congratulate her later.

There's a small playset nearby and the group walks to it so Wentworth can swing on the one and only baby swing.  
"Push me, babe!" Lisa laughs, taking the regular sized swing next to her nephew. Her boyfriend rolls his eyes but does it anyway.  
"You want to do the honors, Barry?" Len asks after getting their son into the swing.  
Barry's face feels a little warm as he nods, stepping in front of the other man to push the back of the seat gently. Wentworth holds onto the front of the seat tightly. It keeps him from moving forward and backward too much as he swings and Barry wonders if he's doing it for that reason or if it's just comfortable that way for him.  
Caitlin stands in front of Worthy and makes faces at him as he swings to her. He giggles and squeals, kicking his legs whenever she reaches her arms out toward him.  
Len leans against one of the supporting poles and watches, a small smile on his lips.

They stay like that, happy and content, for a good hour or so. Lisa eventually notices the tell tale 'sleepy face' on her nephew and informs her brother.  
"We better get him home so he can get his nap in," Len announces, pushing himself away from the pole, "A late nap makes for a late night."  
"Which makes for a very cranky Lenny," Lisa adds, ignoring the glare from her brother as she stops herself on the swing.  
"You're no ray of sunshine either when you only get three hours of sleep," he points out, gently stopping the swing and taking his son out of the seat.  
"So, uh, I guess we'll see you for our next training session?" Barry asks as they start to walk away from the playset.  
"Barring unforeseen events," Len nods, walking away from the rest of the group, his son in his arms and his sister at his side.

\---

"Okay, so here's the theory."  
Cisco is standing in front of Barry and Len, dressed as their alter egos, and holding up a tablet with readouts and a simulation on it.  
"Cold shoots the ice pellets and Barry passes by them, transfering some of his lighting directly into the pellets so they cause a mild shock on impact."  
"How fast should I pass them?" Barry tries to think about how he could manuever himself to make it work.  
"A little over regular, but you've got to have a running start before you pass them and it has to be as they're leaving the gun."  
"Seems like a lot of work and risk over nothing," Len doesn't sound the least bit convinced this idea will work, or that they should try it at all.  
"How can you learn if you don't try new things?" Cisco asks, but he doesn't wait for an answer, "Just give the Ice Zap a try."  
"You name your ideas too?" Len mocks, but moves to try it out, "Did you name your first phone and laptop too?"  
Cisco ignores the taunt in favor of watching the readings. Len charges the gun and waits for Barry's nod. Then he fires and Barry's flashing towards him then next to the blue ice beam and stops at his side in the time it took Len to blink three times.  
The target, a couple of stacked crates, explodes from the pellets but there's no sign of electricity. Cisco frowns.  
"Makes sense," Len drawls, lowing his weapon, "Water does not conduct electricity, it is the things dissolved in it. In theory ice should be worse at conducting electricity because lower temperature water is able to absorb fewer particles then higher temperature water."  
Barry and Cisco blink at him.  
Len raises an eyebrow, "What?"  
"That sounded..." Barry wasn't sure if 'scientifical' was a real word or not.  
Cisco snaps out of his head and says, "Proton conduction allows for protons to "jump" between water molecules through quantum tunneling of the hydrogen ions. This helps ice conduct electricity."  
"Blah, blah, science," Len shakes his head once, "You work your head around it. I'll ignore your future suggestions."

\---

It's movie night at STAR Labs. All three Snarts are there and they're about to settle the couch arrangements when the computer goes off about an intercepted bomb threat sent to the CCPD. Barry gives everyone an apologetic look as he flashes into his suit. Len has a spare Cold Gun, goggles and parka at the Lab and suits up as well.  
"I'll try to save you some popcorn!" Lisa calls out to them as they head out of the building.

It's not too far, so Len takes his bike. Barry gets there first, of course, and checks the whole building without seeing any signs of a threat. In fact, there's no sign of anyone being in the building in years.  
"It looks like a false alarm, guys," he says over the Comms.  
Len's bike revs as he arrives. He removes his helmet and walks towards Barry.  
"Now why would someone send in a dummy bomb threat?" Len muses, looking the building over.  
Barry shrugs, "Ordinarily, I'd say it was a trap, but there's no one here."  
"So it's either a prank or a diversion," Len turns his searching eyes to Barry, "Any reason the police need to be distracted this evening?"  
"Just a prisoner transport..."  
Barry and Len share a look before saying, "Prisoner break."

"Detective West," Joe answers his phone with one hand, the other on the steering wheel as he follows the vehicle in front if him.  
"Joe, it's Barry, what's the route for the prison transport?" Joe's brow furrows in concern over his foster son's worried tone.  
"We're going down 5th towards Leslie right now," he tells him, "I'm following right behind the transport, why?"  
"There's going to be an atta-"  
Something crashes into Joe's car, knocking the phone out of his hand and onto the floor on the passenger's side. Glass shatters and Joe instinctively pulls his arms up to protect his face as his foot slams on the brake.  
The vehicle spins to the right, towards his attacker's vehicle and stops. Joe's ears are ringing and there's a severe pain in his leg as he tries to see what happened. His door is bent inward and part of it has sliced open his leg. It burns and throbs painfully, but the detective ignores it in favor of looking for the assailant.  
There's a black SUV smoking next to his, its front crushed from impact. A masked man jumps out of the vehicle and takes off back down the alley the unmarked car came from. The Flash appears in front of the guy before he can get too far lands a punch that sends him to the ground.  
"Detective West!" Barry flashes to Joe and pulls the crushes door out of the way, "Are you all right?"  
"I've been better," Joe winces at the pain as he moves his wounded leg, "What about the prison transport?"  
"Captain Cold's on it," Barry assures him, maneuvering the man so he can get a better look at his leg, "I gotta get you to a hospital, this looks bad."  
Joe shakes his head, "Nah, you gotta go help Cold."  
"He can handle things for the two minutes it'll take me to get you to a hospital," Barry looks the older man in the eyes, "Or we can fight about it and it'll take longer."  
Joe knows better than to argue with Barry when his mind's made up.  
"Fine."

It takes five minutes, but mostly because The Flash had to explain the detective's injuries to the surprised nurses and doctors. The second they wheel Joe into surgery, Barry is gone, back into the fray.  
When he gets back to the transport, Len is having a shoot out with three more black SUV's, taking shelter behind the transport vehicle as the enemy fires back.  
There's at least six men, perhaps more. Barry flashes next to Len.  
"Need a hand?" he smirks.  
"How 'bout I distract them while you sneak up behind and give them the ole one-two?" Len smirks back, re-charging his gun.  
"We might make it back before the credits," Barry laughs, flashing from behind their shelter and behind the enemy, Len giving him cover with the Cold Gun.

While the two men easily defeat the enemy below, a man standing atop a nearby building looks down at them through a pair of binoculars.  
"As I live and breath," he chuckles to himself, "Snart and the Speedster working together. The rumors were true."  
The Flash finishes shoving the last attacker into one of the SUVs and Captain Cold seals it closed with the Cold Gun.  
The man pockets the binoculars and walks away from the scene, an unpleasant expression on his face.

\---

"How's Detective West?" Len asks the next day over the phone. Barry is back at his day job and finishing a report for another case.  
"He's recovering," Barry moves the phone to his other shoulder, "They moved him from the ICU and now he's in a regular room. Should be able to leave in a day or two."  
"Good to know." Len's voice actually sounds relieved, which is something Barry has only seen once. He smiles, that familiar tight feeling in his chest coming back.  
"You, uh, having any plans for the day?" Barry doesn't know what he's trying to do. He has a load of work but something compels him to ask.  
"We're trying peanut butter with Wentworth today," Len is clearly smirking over the phone, "Don't worry, I've got Non-drowsy Benadryl on hand and everything."  
"Let me know how he likes it," Barry smiles.  
Len says, "Sure thing," and hangs up. There's no natural 'good bye' between them. Doesn't seem to fit into their partnership yet, but Barry's okay with that. It's the 'hello's that were more important anyway.

\---


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The less-fluffy other half... I'm so sorry...

Lisa is out with Wentworth for their weekly "I get him all to myself" day. It was part of their compromise when they discussed her obsession. Len is back at home, finishing repairs on the Cold Gun after denting one of the barrels.  
It's quiet and the ex-crook is enjoying the peace as he locks the last piece in place. The gun charges in his hand and he smiles.  
His phone rings.  
Powering down the weapon, Len grabs the device and sees his sister's number on the display.  
"Lisa?" he drawls, thinking she's going to complain about something ruining her 'perfect day' with her nephew.  
"Len," her sister sobs over the phone, Len is on his feet in an instant, "Len, he-Len it's-I'm sorry."  
Len hasn't heard his sister sound this wrecked since they were kids. His grip on the phone tightens and his hand grabs the Cold Gun as he walks to his bike.  
"Where are you? What happened?" he straps the gun to his leg and reaches for his helmet. His sister takes a strengthening breath on the line before managing to say,  
"Wentworth's been taken."

The world stops. 

Distantly, Len can feel the vibrations of someone's voice but he isn't listening. His mind drifts and then refocuses on one word: "Kill."  
"Who," he growls, his cool demeanor a thing of the past. He can hear Lisa's voice catch at the tone but he doesn't care, "Who took him, Lisa?"  
"I-I don't know! There were a bunch of them. We were playing at the slides and two grabbed me from behind while another grabbed Worthy and took off in a dark van. They knocked me out before I could chase after them." Lisa's voice is changing from a sobbing mess to an angered banshee.  
"Get to the geek squad," Len orders, STAR Labs is a resource they'll need to get his son back, "I'll text Barry and shake some trees."  
"Do you think they'll hurt him?" Lisa's voice is barely above a whisper. She's scared, petrified, and there's every reason to be. But fear isn't something Len has time for.  
"Not if they want to live," he deadpans, ending the call. 

 

When Len texted Barry the horrid news, the speedster proved he was able to text as fast as he could run. There were twenty texts sent to Len's phone before he had the time to open the first message. Len frowned, this isn't what he needs right now. He needs the speedster searching the city, not 'blowing up' his phone.  
WHERE ARE YOU? -[Scarlett]  
The last three messages read the same thing. Didn't the kid know he needed time to text back?  
BUSY -[Len]  
DON'T KILL ANYONE! -[Scarlett]  
NO PROMISES -[Len]  
He mutes the phone as he walks inside his favorite bar. His target, a short, blonde man in his late twenties, is chatting up a new female bartender and by the looks of it, isn't making much headway. Len slides into the chair next to him and glares the bartender away.  
"What's your problem?" the blond man turns to Len, his fist clenched as if ready to fight him, "I was talking to her."  
"She wasn't interested, trust me," Len drawls, turning his icy blue eyes to the man next to him, "Owl Eyes."  
The man stiffens at the name, looking behind Len to see if he's brought anyone with him.  
"I came alone and am willing to leave you in one piece if you answer some questions," Len tells him, keeping his voice even and cold.  
"What sort of questions?" the blonde looks nervous, he's already starting to sweat and that makes Len grin a little.  
"You see anyone making deals about a kidnapping recently?" Len watches as the man pulls on his collar like it's trying to choke him. He either knows something, or doesn't and is worried Len will kill him. For his sake, it better be the first one.  
"I, uh, saw some guys getting paid to nab someone, but I didn't catch who," he shrugs, hands wiping at his pant legs, "There was a picture though. It looked like a kid."  
Len cocks his head to the side, eyes narrowing on the squirming man, "Any idea where I can find them?"  
"Listen man, I don't know who you are but-"  
Len grabs him by the neck and smacks his face against the bar. The blonde shouts, hands going to the gash on his forehead as he slumps in his stool.  
"Where can I find them?" Len's glad Barry isn't around. The dumb kid would probably try to stop him and be all soft. Being soft doesn't get you answers.  
"They were supposed to go to a power house or something-" he raises his hands in defense when Len reaches for him, shouting, "I swear!"  
"I know who you are and I know where you live," Len leaves the threat open for the man's imagination.  
"I swear," Owl Eyes repeats, eyes as big as his nickname would suggest, "That's all I know."  
Len glares at him, eyes hard and unyielding as he searching for any signs of deceit. He doesn't see any, so he turns and walks back out of the bar, the blonde breathing heavily behind him.

As he mounts his bike, Barry is suddenly there, dressed as The Flash.  
"You find him?" Len asks, but he can tell by the way Barry is looking at him that he hasn't. Barry's negative shake of the head still angers him though.  
"What did you find out?" the speedster asks, moving closer so that he can block Len's way if he tries to leave without telling him.  
"The local snitch saw the goons who took him," Len can't get himself to say his son's name. There's far too much anger rolling in his gut, "I'm going to need Cisco to send me the locations of every power station within Central City."  
"Is the guy still alive?" Barry asks, because Len isn't acting like the Len he's been training with. He isn't the father of their son anymore. He's Captain Cold.  
"He's alive," Len clips his helmet on, his eyes avoiding the concern in the other man's eyes. Barry puts a hand on Len's shoulder, he stiffens.  
"We'll get him back." There's steele and conviction in the speedster's voice. It's much stronger than what Len's heard before. He nods, brushing the hand away.

There are three main power stations in the City. One of them had recently suffered from frequent power fluctuations. That's were the duo go.  
"Doesn't look like anyone's here," Barry notes aloud. There's a chain on the outer fence to keep people out.  
"Looks aren't everything," Len drawls, icing the lock before kicking at it. The brittle chains scatter into pieces as the fence opens with a loud creak.  
"Subtle," Barry frowns, following after the other man as he makes his way into the building. Len takes hold of the doorknob and raises a hand, Barry stops.  
Len turns to him with a frown, "It's unlocked."  
"Maybe the workers forgot?" Barry half shrugs, but the likelihood is minimal.  
Carefully, Len opens the door. It barely makes a sound and the two men sneak into the station carefully, looking for signs of intruders or any sign of their boy.  
There's a faint sniffling noise and Len raises his hand again. The noise gets louder and it's definitely coming from the door at the end of the hall. The two of them sprint quietly towards it and Len grabs hold of the handle, waiting for Barry's nod before opening it and entering the room beyond.  
It's a fairly open space of what might be the center of the station. There are two large cylinders humming with electricity to their left and a short staircase with metal railings on the other end of the room. One of Wentworth's shoes is sitting in the middle of a circle to their right. Barry instantly goes for it before Len can warn him.  
The second the speedster picks up the shoe, bars of light come out of the ground and reach all the way to the ceiling.  
"Flash!" Len shouts, moving to aid his partner, but someone's laughing in the room and he stops in his tracks.  
A tall man in a suit of all things steps into the light at the top of the stairs. Wentworth is in his arms, tears running down his face as he sniffles. Len wants to rip the man's throat out.  
"I wouldn't try 'phasing' through that if I were you," the stranger tells The Flash, "The bars are made out of pure energy and you'll merely dissect yourself at an atomic level."  
"What do you want?" Len growls, wishing he had Barry's speed and could get his son out of this maniac's grasp.  
"Leonard Snart, AKA Captain Cold," the man smiles like they're friends, "Your reputation proceeds you."  
"Can't say the same about you," Len frowns taking a cautious step forward, "Give me the boy."  
"I've got to admit, I had a hard time looking into your history," the man sounds impressed, it makes both men sick, "It's as if you're entire life was wiped from digital history."  
"I have my ways," Len frowns, trying to figure out a way to get the psycho away from his son without hitting the little boy.  
"Yes, I noticed," the man nods, "But then I come across a birth certificate and you're suddenly hanging around a small boy who has your eyes."  
"Get to the point," Len bites out through clenched teeth, he needs to cool down. A level head is needed here, but there's an inferno burning inside him and it's trying to eat him alive.  
"Absolutely!" the man keeps smiling, "I want you to come work for me."  
"What?" Barry snaps. The man ignores the speedster, his attention completely on the man in front of him.  
"Fine," Len puts the Cold Gun down on the ground and raises his hands in defeat, "The boy goes home with the speedster unharmed."  
"No! What are you doing?" Barry tries to reach out to him, but the bars zap him and he can't stop the shout of pain from the action. Wentworth's sniffles turn to sobs.  
"I go, they stay, no one else gets hurt," Len takes a few steps away from his gun, his hands still up in surrender.  
"Lovely doing business," the man triumphantly walks down the stairs and to The Flash's cage, "Move over, hero."  
Barry steps as far away as he can without touching the bars. The man pulls out what looks like a phone and pushes something, making a small opening in the bottom of the bars so he can roll Wentworth through it. Barry flashes to his son's side before he can touch the bars and the opening closes. The little boy breaks into a loud cry.  
"Let's go," the man motions with his head for Len to follow.  
Len does without question, only sparing a glance to his son and Barry as he passes them. Barry tightens his hold on their son as he watches him go, utterly powerless to stop him.  
"Da," Wentworth cries after they've gone.

Cisco, Caitlin, and Lisa arrive minutes later and manage to power down the cage. There's a dark look in Lisa's eyes as Barry relays what happened and Wentworth is still crying in his arms. Caitlin tries to console the young boy but he won't let go of Barry.  
Team Flash is down one member and they're going to get him back.

\---

Two weeks. Two weeks go by with no sign Len or the enemy who took him. It's as if the mystery man never existed.  
Lisa comforts herself by being extra clingy to Worthy, not letting him out of her sight unless she's out on her crusade to find her brother. They are staying at STAR Labs now for protection.  
Wentworth wakes up from every nap and bedtime calling for his father. 

Barry's heart sinks with every sunset. His attitude worsens at work and he finds himself snapping at everyone and anyone who approaches him. Joe tries to cover for him, having been filled in on the situation, but the young man will get himself fired if he doesn't get his emotions under control.  
After biting off the head of a young officer, Joe has had enough and he pulls Barry off to the side.  
"I know you're worried about Snart, Barry," he says to the profile of the young man before him, Barry can't bring himself to look the older man in the eyes, "But you can't be taking it out on other people."  
Barry's eyes are still hard but his shoulders slump slightly. Joe's words are getting to him so he pushes, "Len is a clever crook who's managed to double cross plenty of people in his life. I doubt he can't get one over on whoever this new guy is."  
It's an odd compliment, sure, but it seems to do the trick because Barry is sighing and the tension is draining out of his posture.  
"I've lost so many people, Joe," Barry says quietly, eyes still not reaching the other man's, "What if I lose him too? What if Wentworth never sees his father again?"  
Joe pulls Barry into a hug. There are no words to comfort all the 'what if's in the world. He can't stand to see his foster son so heartbroken.  
"You'll get him back, Barr," Joe puts all his confidence in those words, squeezing the younger man to emphasize them.  
Barry pulls back, allowing his eyes to catch the other man's as he gives him a small smile, "Thank, Joe."

\---

On week three, Cisco calls Barry, "Barry, I think I've got something."  
The speedster is there in minutes, all thoughts going to what the word 'something' could possibly mean.  
"What?" it's only one word, but there's so much more to it and Cisco appears to catch the unspoken meanings.  
"I've been hounding the internet, looking for any sign our Cold Constituent," Cisco explains, pulling up various social pages and internet sites, "I found a string of comments."  
He pulls up a Flash discussion board and points to a guest member named "Sebastian3" who comments seem ordinary, but as Barry looks closer at them, re-reading them, he notices something.  
"tHE fLash Probably Means wEll."  
"is He Even Legal? Past puberty? Might bE a kid."  
A few more comments read in a similar pattern, only one set of letters capitalized to spell "HELP ME."  
"How can we know it's him though?" Barry wants to believe it, is almost desperate for something he can go after, but he won't allow his hope to be raised so they can come crashing down around him.  
"His last comment was a little less subtle," Cisco smirks, pulling up a comment that reads, "i wonder if He could makE meLted ice electric using Proton condution? My brain buddy says it's possiblE."  
That's proof enough for Barry, "Can you trace where the comments are being uploaded?"  
"You're not going to believe this," Cisco punches a key and a picture of the power plant pops up, "He never left the building."  
Barry briefly wonders how badly he can fry Len's kidnapper without killing him.

 

Lisa demands to go and there's no dissuading her. Wentworth looks at Barry with hopeful eyes and he pulls the boy into his arms for a tight hug.  
"We'll be back," he tells his son, kissing him on the forehead before releasing him, "I promise."

The Flash carries Lisa back to the plant where the nightmare started. His stomach rolls with nausea at the thought his partner was here the whole time and he didn't even think to check. The self-loathing will have to wait for later.  
Lisa has her Gold Gun in her hands and her brother's Cold Gun strapped to her leg. She shoots at the cameras as they make their way into the building in a similar fashion Barry and Len had all those days ago. When they get to the room where they met the strange man, Barry's body tenses, expecting the villain to come waltzing out of the shadows.  
But no one is there. No workers, no goons, no sign of people at all.  
"All right, Cisco, where do we look for a super secret villain entrance?" Barry says softly into the Comm.  
"I had Caitlin take pictures of the original floor plans and compared them to the current, digital ones," Cisco answers in a rush of words, "There should be a stairway that leads to three lower levels in the station."  
"Three? What was this place? A fortress?" Barry scoffs.  
"Not sure, but it might have been a bomb shelter," Cisco mumbles, even the genius couldn't have all the answers.  
"Stay on target, Red," Lisa orders, taking point in front looking for any sign of a hidden staircase.  
In a flash, Barry checks the room, finding nothing suspicious. He shrugs his shoulders to Lisa's questioning look. She gives him a tight smile as her hand pushes something and a wall gives way. Barry looks at her impressed.  
"Not everything can be done fast," she comments, moving the door the rest of the way. They go down the staircase slowly and as quietly as they can.  
The bottom of the staircase has a metal door that's, unsurprisingly, locked. Lisa uses her lock picking skills and has the door open in record time. She winks at Barry as she carefully opens it.  
The room beyond is unnaturally bright. The coast is clear though, and the two of them get through the door and through the room in a few strides. On the other end there's a wide hallway with five doors.  
"Which one, Flash?" Lisa asks, eyes searching for enemies.  
Barry decides to check each door to see if they're locked. He's done in a second and they're not. He looks to Lisa, "You take the right. I'll take the left."  
She nods and they start systematically checking the rooms. They are ominously empty. One of them has security cameras, but no one to monitor them.  
"I don't like this," Lisa adjusts her grip on her weapon.  
"I have a feeling we're walking in to a trap," he looks to her and frowns, "Maybe you should leave now. I wouldn't want to leave Wentworth alone."  
Lisa glares at him, her eyes colder than her brother's, "I'm not leaving Lenny here."  
Barry understands and respects her decision. The odds of this working out were better with her anyway, assuming there wasn't an army of henchmen waiting for them on the next floor. Or worse.  
He can't think about those things though, this isn't the time for speculation. Time's ticking away and there's only one way to find out their answers.  
Barry never was one to run away from a fight.

They go down the second set of stairs as carefully as they had the first. Barry's emotions fluctuate with every step. What if they're gone? What if the mystery man caught Len and killed him for it? What if this is a trap and they all end up down here? What if there's a bomb waiting for them?  
The speedster shakes his head, he's spiraling again. He needs to focus!  
The metal door at the bottom of these stairs isn't locked. Barry gets in front of Lisa to take the lead. He can dodge any danger on the other side and heal through anything that might attack him.  
The door creaks and Barry's heart thumps harshly in his chest as it opens to a small room, it's all white. There are computer screens coming out of the left wall like mushrooms in a forest. Each screen has a different thing playing on it and one or two are fuzzy. There are no other hallways, not more doors. Just a white room and computer screens.  
"No," Barry whispers, his voice almost cracking. There's nothing here, no ONE here! This was all a waste of time! Why were things this way? What did they do to deserve this? Why did he have to fail again?!  
There's a hand on his arm and he turns to see Lisa's concerned face. He furrows his brow at her.  
"You were shouting," she explains simply. Her eyes soft as they look into his sorrow with her own.  
Barry's heart clenches, he hadn't even noticed. His emotions were warring with his brain and he couldn't clear his head. He takes a deep breath.  
"Sorry," he tells her. He speeds over to the computer screens and finds a keyboard resting on a small shelf mounted to the wall. The Comms can't reach this far underground, so he'll have to try to find clues in the computer himself.  
Lisa starts checking the walls for hidden passageways as he works, her hand roving over the white surface as she moves.  
There doesn't seem to be anything nefarious to the computer, just random video feeds. The two fuzzy screens might be destroyed cameras. He hits a few keys in an attempt to find hidden commands and accidentally activates a countdown.  
"Oh," he looks at each screen as they all simultaneously begin to go from twenty and downwards.  
"What, 'oh'?" Lisa asks, reaching him in her search. She looks up to the screen and her face washes over in worry, "Did you just activate a self-destruct or something?"  
"I don't know," Barry tries a few more combinations, but nothing is having an effect on the countdown that's quickly reaching ten, "We'll have to get out of here."  
"Not yet," Lisa goes around him and starts checking the next wall.  
Barry tries speed typing to get more combinations in, but there's still nothing happening and the timer is at the single digits now. He can't risk it getting under five if he wants to get them out of there in time safely.  
"Lisa," he warns the woman, dropping the keyboard, "We've got to go!"  
"I'm almost done!" she shouts over her shoulder, making her way to the last wall.  
The countdown is at six and Barry is going to just grab her and go when she shouts out in triumph. Something moves under her hand and a door-sized part of the wall moves. Now they have to make a choice.  
Go into the room or get out of the building?  
Lisa decides for him when she bolts through the opening without him. He flashes to her side, the countdown at three now. The door closes behind him and he throws himself over her in an attempt to protect her from the explosion.

But there's not explosion, not even a tremor.

Someone starts clapping slowly and Barry opens his eyes to see the man he's been searching for clapping for them like they've just performed a trick. He's alone though, no sign of Len.  
"I thought for sure you were going to make a run for it," the man smiles, pleased that his trick didn't work, "There's a lot more to you than speed."  
Barry is on him in a second, the man's shirt in his fists as he shoves him against the wall, "Where's Snart?"  
"Leonard is waiting for us in the study," the man doesn't seem bothered by the hero's proximity. He tilts his head down the hallway, "That way."  
Barry shoves him in the direction he's indicated. He stays at his side so that he can't try activating any traps. The hallway is short and leads to an actual study, with books covering the walls and everything. Len is sitting on the couch at the center of the room. He's pale and looks terrible, like he hasn't eaten in a long time. Barry's anger flares, he's going to tear the man limb from limb.  
Len looks at Barry without any of his usual calm air. There's defeat written all over his posture and his face falls when he sees his sister join them in the room.  
"Lenny!" she runs to his side, taking him into her arms, "I was so worried about you!"  
"Lisa," he answers robotically, putting one arm around his sister.  
She pulls away and looks at him quizzically, "That's all you have to say to your rescuer?"  
"Is this a rescue?" Len's kidnapper pipes up, "How do you expect to get out of here?"  
Lisa scoffs, "All we have to do is re-trace our steps, moron. I've broken out of more secure places as a teenager."  
The man smiles, Lisa doesn't like his smile, "My apologies. I meant, how do you expect to get out of here with him?"  
The man nods to Len and Lisa worries about what kind of crazy her brother was exposed to. A heavy sigh from the couch turns all eyes to Len. He lifts his pants to reveal a black device attached to his leg.  
"If Leonard tries to leave or remove the device, he explodes," their enemy explains, "One false move and 'boom' no more Lenny."  
Lisa points her gun at the maniac, finger almost pulling the trigger, "Take it off!"  
"Don't want to," he shrugs.  
"Then I'll kill you and figure out how to do it myself," Lisa warns.  
"My heart rate is integrated with this building's system. If I die the building blows too," the man shrugs as if it's a mere inconvenience, "I have an affinity for explosives."  
Barry lands a savage punch to the man's face. He crumples to the ground with a bloody nose.  
Len blinks a few times, then smiles, his usual charm returning slightly, "Didn't think you had it in you, kid."  
"It's been a long three weeks," Barry breaths through the anger still seething through his veins, "How do we get that thing off?"  
Len eyes his gun on his sister's leg and smiles, "Two choices."  
"Freeze it off?" Lisa guesses, removing the weapon and handing it to her brother.  
Len nods, "Unless Barry can vibrate my leg out of it?"  
The thought never occurred to the speedster to even try. He wasn't really comfortable trying it out when his partner's life was on the line.  
"Thought so," Len drawls, and he's back to sounding more like the man he knows, "Was worth asking. Back up, Lisa."  
As his sister obeys the order, Len rolls up his pant leg and does his best to angle the gun so it'll hit the device and not his leg. He looks up to the other two and winks.  
The Cold Gun fires and Len shouts out in pain. The device beeps for a second but nothing happens. The skin around the device is black with sever frostbite and Len smashes the thing off his leg with the butt of the gun.  
"One more thing before we go," he smiles at Barry and Lisa as he limps over to a bookshelf. He pulls a tall red book and the wall turns.  
"This guy's using all the bad guy tricks," Lisa sounds annoyed. Len snorts.  
"You don't know the half of it," he waves his hand over an orb and the lights go on. There's a larger room beyond the bookcase. Hundreds of computer terminals and computer screens almost fill it. Barry lets out a whistle.  
"Our unfriendly psychopath in the other room was in the business of collecting and manipulating information," Len explains, wincing as he lowers himself to the chair in front of the keyboards, "He saw through the Miller identities and was curious as to how I developed the program."  
"I thought you said you got it from a friend?" Barry's eyes glance over the terminals, trying to calculate how much information could be processed through them.  
"I did, but Waco didn't know that," Len smirks, pulling up a screen that was promoting the world's largest sweet potato.  
"You planning on becoming a farmer?" Lisa crosses her arms, lost at what her brother was trying to do.  
"My friend warned me about that nut-job," Len grimaces, "I thought he was over exaggerating."  
"So how is a vegetable going to help us?" Lisa thinks her brother might have spent one too many days with the odd-ball knocked out in the other room.  
"This little website is a virus trap," Len smiles, purposely clicking on the words, "wish it away." The screen changes to black and a jack-o-lantern face laughs at them with a deep computerized voice.  
"That should take care of his precious information," Len turns a triumphant look to his two rescuers, "We can go now. I need a proper meal."  
They walk over their, still un-named, enemy and toward freedom and fresh air.

"I'll have to talk to Joe about what to do about him," Barry muses aloud as he helps Len out of the building. His partner had originally refused his help, confidently stating he could get out himself, but after the second flight of stairs his steps were becoming sluggish and he was sweating.  
"How come there aren't any goons coming after us?" Lisa asks. Barry had worried about that since they started the rescue. There wasn't any sign of further resistance at all and they were now out of the building and almost passed the gate.  
"Wako doesn't like people," Len hisses at the pain in his leg.  
"Odd for him to choose kidnapper as a profession then," Barry remarks wanting to rush the other man to a hospital but knowing he wouldn't allow it.  
Len shrugs in Barry's hold, "He just wanted the program, not me."  
There's a bitter tone to Len's voice. Something happened during those three weeks of captivity. He doubts the man just left Len alone the whole time. Barry just hopes Len will be willing to talk about it, instead of bottling it up.  
Barry hopes he'll be able to help his partner when he's ready as well.

 

Caitlin is able to handle the severe frostbite. It's a near thing, Len could've lost his leg, but he's stronger than he looks and he pulls through. Wentworth was asleep when they arrived at the labs, but the second he's up he calls for his father.  
For the first time in three weeks, Lisa doesn't have to tell him no.  
"Da!" Wentworth cheers, leaping from Lisa's arms as soon as he's close enough and wrapping his small arms around Len's neck, "Da!"  
"I'm here, Wentworth," Len wraps his arms around his son, tears sliding down his face unbidden, "I'm right here."

\---

The power plant explodes the next day. All the news channels have their reporters documenting the event and after shocks. A third of the City goes dark, but thankfully, not STAR Labs. The police can't figure out what caused it, but there are reports of scorch marks not related to the explosion marking the outside of the building.  
The investigation is still underway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *{I tried to make it easy to guess but, just in case I failed, Mick is the one who killed the mystery man. Len and he are still secretly friends.}*

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own the show, nor the characters.


End file.
